MPhil DPhil (Oxon)
University of Oxford
Big Team Science Conference
August 11, 2025
Erin M. Buchanan
Data Lead
Timo B. Roettger Analysis Lead
Chenzi Xu
Scientific Lead Method Lead
Xinbing Luo
Project Manager
Indranil Dutta
Outreach Lead
Cong Zhang
Ethics Lead
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Primate evolutionary relationships.
Source: The Guardian, 2016
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Standard Mandarin tones
CF0
\(f_0\) of a vowel onset is influenced by the preceding consonant type.
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CF0
\(f_0\), especially at vowel onset, is higher following a voiceless obstruent than following a voiced one.
CF0 effect size ranges from 0.4-3.9 semitones across 20 languages (Ting et al., 2025).
The temporal extent and magnitude of CF0 vary considerably.
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Five stages of tonogenesis based on Maran (1973)
Source: Kang, 2014
Production and perception in tonal decelopment
Stage II - III: Small CF0 perturbations are detectable by listeners
Stage III- IV: CF0 is one of the perceptual cues to the consonant contrast
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To what extent can \(f_0\) perturbations be perceived?
How is the ability to perceive \(f_0\) perturbations distributed across the population, and what factors influence this perception?
Whether and how language experience and musical competence affect CF0 perception?
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Schematic representation of the experimental paradigm of Hombert (1975, p.223 Part I).
Note
Participants adjust the fundamental frequency using a knob in Hombert (1975).
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Stimuli design
6 perturbation duration: \(\Delta t = 40, 60, 80, 100, 120, 250\) ms
8 perturbation frequency: \(\Delta f = \pm 10, 20, 30, 40\) Hz
3 sound token type: baseline \(f_0\) of 150 Hz
Resynthesised from a male recording (44.1 kHz, 16 bit, mono)
Intensity normalised to 75 dB
Fixed token length of 250 ms
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